After much harassment encouragement, I entered the blogosphere to document the delightful (or otherwise) and unexpected moments of my younger daughter's life. Hannah was born in 1998. She surprised us with her extra chromosome, and continues to surprise us with her humor, intellect and obstinacy. She takes our breath away. As my elder daughter once wrote, when Hannah was born, our family went from ordinary to extraordinary.

October 27, 2009

21 Things

A year ago, I made a list of 21 Things About Hannah. Here's this year's version. I wrote this year's before reviewing last year's, and I've only got one overlap. Interesting that none of these have anything to do with that pesky extra 21st chromosome.

1. She has been known to stay in the bathtub for nearly 2 hours.

2. Nan was terrified of the dentist the first few times. After we excessively played pretend dentist, it became her favorite place to go.

3. She will now eat just about any food put in front of her. Within reason. (Sorry, buckwheat pancakes with blackstrap molasses aren't gonna cut it, Opa.) But she will always ask, hopefully, if noodles are on the menu.

4. She has donated to Locks of Love twice, and is planning on growing her hair out again.

5. Soccer is edging out baseball these days, though she still plays both.

6. Her room is usually a huge mess, but when coerced, she is really good at cleaning it thoroughly.

7. Her nicknames include: Birdie, Love, Nan, Nanabird, and Puddin'.

8. She LOVES to see stage productions.

9. She wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. Or, move to Hollywood and become the piano accompanist for an ongoing production of The Sound of Music.

10. When she was born with severe pulmonary hypertension, she was given a 15% survival rate.

11. Peter Pevensie is her favorite character in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. (not a bad choice in my opinion)

12. After independently sifting through 150 magnetic words, here are her favorites:

(and I agree, these are her favorite things to do!)

13. All time favorite: Watching videos. Second place: drawing/coloring.

14. She wants to visit Egypt.

15. She has a collection of teddy bears, but only one, Molasses, sleeps with her. Molasses has a best friend named "Oddy", who is an ostrich.

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About Me

The Cast of Characters!

Hannah, a girl who meets her challenges.

Hannah loves to read, swim, play soccer, spends LOTS of time creating art and takes bass guitar lessons. She keeps us all on our toes!

Chris, the excellent big brother.

I don't think there is a kinder brother in the world. He is 24 and is working on his PhD in Chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill

Kate, the incredible big sister.

Kate is a veteran Peace Corps volunteer in Jordan. She is working as a Police Dispatcher and is studying for an MBA.

James, the Fearless Leader!

Don't let him fool you, he's actually a real estate executive who manages corporate properties. But he does a nice job with the lawn, dishes and laundry too! I'm not complaining!!

Beth, The Crazed Mudder.

After 21 years of homeschooling, I'm starting to show some side effects! I always said my degree in Psychology and Animal Behavior would be good for something! Besides annoying my children, I spend a good portion of my spare time researching Down syndrome metabolism and cognition. I also enjoy mentoring families who are new to Down syndrome or new to homeschooling.

A Beast

Hazel is Katie's dog. She is named after a character in "Watership Down". She is a Wheaten Terrier, the only kind of dog we can own because bunches of us are allergic. Hazel is very sweet, unless you are a puppy and you irritate her.

A Younger Beast

Bunsen belongs to Chris. He is playful little guy and a quick learner. He reminds us of his Uncle Nelson.